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SALMON IN A COUSCOUS CRUST

"My husband's going to see King Kong tonight," Annie explained over the phone. "Why don't I come over and you can make me dinner?" I sighed. I guess that was fair. Usually when we get together, we do so at her place since it's bigger and her bar is better stocked. "That's fine," I told her. "Actually there is a recipe I've been wanting to try - Salmon baked in a couscous crust. Doesn't that sound interesting? I saw Tyler Florence make it on How To Boil Water one day." "Salmon?" she questioned, sounding unimpressed. "Don't you like salmon? I mean, you love seafood, how could you not like salmon?" I asked. "I burnt myself out on salmon a couple years ago," she explained. "Well that's what we're having," I informed her. "You're going to return to salmon."

I hung up the phone, quickly cleaned up the apartment a little bit and headed to the market for supplies.

In a large bowl, stir together the parsley, raisins, olives, capers,
pine nuts, olive oil, and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the couscous to moisten completely and season generously with salt and pepper.

Put the salmon in a single layer in a smallish buttered gratin dish or baking dish (bottom measured 10 by 7 1/4 inches; 2.8 liter); the fillets should not touch one another. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil. Spoon the couscous mixture over the top of the fish so that it completely covers them and fills the whole dish. Pour in the water. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Put the dish in the oven and bake 25 minutes.

How easy was that? So the salmon sort of poaches in the water which the couscous then absorbs. The top comes out slightly crisp and the fish is perfectly cooked in the couscous. The raisins give a nice sweetness which contrasts with the salty olives and capers. If you want, you could use a spatula to nicely scoop out each salmon fillet, but we just used a spoon and dug in. I served it with braised fennel with lemon.

By the time Annie arrived, dinner was ready. We popped open a bottle of wine and Annie helped herself to a plate. "This salmon is fantastic!" she exclaimed, her mouth full. It seems her salmon hiatus is over.

Comments

OK, it's a little embarrassingly stalkerish how i found this site, but i have to tell you...i love it. Made this salmon dish last night and it was perfect. looking forward to trying more things from this site.

Wow. Thank you so much. I'm glad you made it and that you liked it. It's sort of fun to make, isn't it? I just love how you pour the water in, bake and everything comes out perfect. Definately keep posting and letting me know your thoughts on various recipes.

This is fantastic! I also made this dish using chicken broth to add a bit more weight, and I also used mixed raisins too add some additional color to the dish.

Alongside it I served a spinach salad topped with roasted butternut squash, red onions, pistachios, fresh figs, goat cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette. The flavors played wonderfully together and everyone LOVED it!

Is it possible to have king kong jumping around and surviving his
various crash landings? Why not? Please explain this in terms of
atomic physics using natural units (planck units). An answer might
discuss the force of the impact of King Kong (use approximate
equations) and the chemical bonds in his bones. Ignore factors of 2,
pi, and such pesty constants.

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